Intel closes AppUp, its PC app store (Intel had a PC app store?)

"No new content or apps" after the store closes on March 11.

We're apparently not the only ones who forgot AppUp was a thing—the store closes in March.

Intel

Intel's AppUp store for Windows apps has been around since January of 2010, though you could be forgiven for forgetting about it. Intel apparently wants to forget, too: the company announced today that the AppUp store will be closing its doors on March 11, 2014, "after which no new content or apps will be available for download."

An extensive FAQ about the closing covers most of the important facts. E-mail support for AppUp apps will be available until June 15, 2014. The AppUp client application and some apps will continue to function after the store closes, but many applications "require communication with the AppUp client and may not work after May 15, 2014." Apps purchased through AppUp will no longer receive updates once the store closes, nor will Intel be able to send product keys for keyed apps after March 11. If you want to download the AppUp client and install it now, you'll either need to find it from another download source or contact Intel customer service.

Intel is offering refunds for some paid apps here, but that page isn't yet functional, and it's not clear what criteria a purchase will need to meet to be eligible for a refund. Refunds will only be available between now and December 19, 2014.

While AppUp wasn't such a major player in the industry that its closure will have a big impact, it does raise interesting questions about the app store approach used in most major mobile and desktop operating systems today. These app stores are usually used not just to display and distribute applications, but to track purchases and licensing and distribute important feature and security updates. Intel is attempting to do right by its customers by offering refunds, but it's easy to imagine an alternate scenario that leaves customers with a pile of useless, non-functioning apps instead.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Sometimes it's not so easy depending on how many non-standard drivers the OEM uses. My probook had a few "unknown devices" after a reformat. One ended up being a driver for the SDcard slot, while another driver wouldn't install under Windows 8 because it needed an older .net version. If the list of crapware is fairly short, uninstalling is often a faster, less frustrating affair.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Sometimes it's not so easy depending on how many non-standard drivers the OEM uses. My probook had a few "unknown devices" after a reformat. One ended up being a driver for the SDcard slot, while another driver wouldn't install under Windows 8 because it needed an older .net version. If the list of crapware is fairly short, uninstalling is often a faster, less frustrating affair.

Not just this, but some machines (Like my X201) don't come with Windows installation media, rather they include a disc image that simply allows you to return the machine to its factory condition - bloatware and all. I've previously tried using my retail Win7 Pro DVD to get a "fresh" install, but my Lenovo key was rejected.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Lenovo notebooks have a great deal of software that features in the system are dependent on. It is much, MUCH easier simply to uninstall the bloatware than to re install windows and go through the task of installing only the drivers & software that you need on a Lenovo system the good majority of the time. Maybe the customer will never use those mainly enterprise features, but if they aren't bloatware they are part of the package most of the time IMO and should be disabled, not removed, from the system.

I used AppUp just once when it launched because it offered Angry Birds for free.

Yeah, that's the only time I used it too. I think I completed it all in like 2 hours, so I don't think I'm going to worry about making sure I have a back-up copy.

I feel like a real dummy now though. I should have held off on my exposure to Angry Birds until I could play the best version possible. If I hadn't got it for free years ago and ruined it, I could run out right now and buy an XBox One so that I could play the proper next-gen version for just $49.99. Oh well.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Sometimes it's not so easy ...

Huh. And I was so sure that the <humor> tag would be entirely superfluous in my previous post, given the addition of the appropriate smiley.

But in all honestly... I only say that in half jest: I actually used to work in a tech support shop (in a previous career) wherein our standard procedure upon receiving a new PC (which came with a customized corporate image) for an internal end-user was to immediately slick it and reinstall a clean copy of Windows. The reason was that at the time, every single one of those corporate image machines that we handed directly to an end-user (without slicking it) ultimately exhibited bizarre behavior and frequent crashes.

So yeah... I actually have some experience with regards to painstakingly hunting down all of the correct drivers and wot-not -- but sometimes it's just plain worth it to put in that extra time up front, instead of waiting for inevitable problems to crop up later, which mean you still have to do the work -- and you have to deal with an angry end user.

But ya know... things change. Maybe my experiences are dated beyond applicability at this point. (Certainly the lack of installation media with many current systems, as one person mentioned, hinders this mode of operation, at the very least.)

These app stores are usually used not just to display and distribute applications, but to track purchases and licensing and distribute important feature and security updates. Intel is attempting to do right by its customers by offering refunds, but it's easy to imagine an alternate scenario that leaves customers with a pile of useless, non-functioning apps instead.

Kind of like Microsoft closing GFWL and in my case despite my proof of purchase, MS not being able to locate the order, and hence no key for me to transfer.

I had an app in that App Store. IIRC they sent me a netbook gratis for being an early participant. That netbook was worth more than the total revenue my app generated in the time it was there. Fortunately the app in question did a lot better on other channels...

The only major app store that has both DRM and a public exit strategy, as far as I know, is Steam. Not coincidentally, that's the only app store where I've spent more than ten dollars.

Steam does not have a "public exit strategy." Gabe Newell, in an interview once, said that they "tested" turning off the servers and the games (probably their own games, as it was a long time ago) still worked, but that's about it. From there gamers came to believe that DRM-disabled copies of all purchased games would flow to users' hard drives in the event that Steam went out of business. Why, I don't know.

Reinstall from what? From the recovery partition that came bundled with your new computer? You get all the crap re-installed.

Not easy to obtain a clean version of windows from any PC manufacturer.

That's one perk of buying from the 'business' line. Whatever they ship with, any PC OEM knows that their corporate line is going to get the IT-blessed image about ten seconds out of the box. The ones that have an interest in distinguishing their yet-another-intel-reference-design-in-a-plastic-box even do their best to make this easy for you.

Steam does not have a "public exit strategy." Gabe Newell, in an interview once, said that they "tested" turning off the servers and the games (probably their own games, as it was a long time ago) still worked, but that's about it. From there gamers came to believe that DRM-disabled copies of all purchased games would flow to users' hard drives in the event that Steam went out of business. Why, I don't know.

That's one perk of buying from the 'business' line. Whatever they ship with, any PC OEM knows that their corporate line is going to get the IT-blessed image about ten seconds out of the box. ...

Sometimes, even faster then that.

Not even joking, either... I'm totally serious: in my previous message where I referenced the corporate images, those images were (for better or worse) actually deployed to the machines by Dell for us, prior to our receipt of the machines.

(I have no idea if Dell still offers that kind of service; this was quite some time back.)

Steam does not have a "public exit strategy." Gabe Newell, in an interview once, said that they "tested" turning off the servers and the games (probably their own games, as it was a long time ago) still worked, but that's about it. From there gamers came to believe that DRM-disabled copies of all purchased games would flow to users' hard drives in the event that Steam went out of business. Why, I don't know.

This seems like the sort of question an investigative journalist *HINT HINT* should start asking all the major app stores. A good way to embarrass some action out of them, especially if their competitors are assuring purchases after closure.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Lenovo notebooks have a great deal of software that features in the system are dependent on. It is much, MUCH easier simply to uninstall the bloatware than to re install windows and go through the task of installing only the drivers & software that you need on a Lenovo system the good majority of the time. Maybe the customer will never use those mainly enterprise features, but if they aren't bloatware they are part of the package most of the time IMO and should be disabled, not removed, from the system.

You can use Double Driver (http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm) to backup your drivers. Once you've reinstalled Windows then point it at the folder of drivers that DD created and everything will get reinstalled. I wish I'd know about it years ago.

It won't, however, handle those programs that you have to install to make various buttons work.

What I don't understand is how you can do a clean install anyway. Unless my information is now out of date, I thought the Windows serial on a lot of laptop brands aren't recognised by the Windows ISO you can get off technet.

Steam does not have a "public exit strategy." Gabe Newell, in an interview once, said that they "tested" turning off the servers and the games (probably their own games, as it was a long time ago) still worked, but that's about it. From there gamers came to believe that DRM-disabled copies of all purchased games would flow to users' hard drives in the event that Steam went out of business. Why, I don't know.

Having worked for a company that went bankrupt, I find it very difficult to believe that the administrators brought in to wind it down will press the button to enable this to happen. The only way this could possibly work is if the games unlock themselves when a certain condition occurs - and I'm struggling to come up with one that either couldn't be trivially faked (eg. Valve domain no longer points to x.x.x.x) or take so long to trigger that you might as well have no game (eg. No access to Steam for 3 months).

I think it would be safer to assume that if Steam is discontinued or Valve go bankrupt then you'll lose your entire catalogue of purchased games. If you assume it'll be any better than that, then you run the risk of being horribly let down.

... What I don't understand is how you can do a clean install anyway. Unless my information is now out of date, I thought the Windows serial on a lot of laptop brands aren't recognised by the Windows ISO you can get off technet.

Then you're probably just downloading the wrong ISO; there are multiple versions of certain ISOs, including some which only work with volume licenses (but not retail licenses) and some which only work with retail licenses (but not volume licenses), and so on. There are even some which contain multiple versions of Windows on a single disk... but which can't be used at all to install on some servers, because the server setup software doesn't recognize those multi-OS disks as genuine Microsoft install media. Microsoft is so wonderfully organized, that way. </sarcasm>

That's one perk of buying from the 'business' line. Whatever they ship with, any PC OEM knows that their corporate line is going to get the IT-blessed image about ten seconds out of the box. ...

Sometimes, even faster then that.

Not even joking, either... I'm totally serious: in my previous message where I referenced the corporate images, those images were (for better or worse) actually deployed to the machines by Dell for us, prior to our receipt of the machines.

(I have no idea if Dell still offers that kind of service; this was quite some time back.)

They do. https://imagedirect3.dell.com/login Build your image in a VM, download for local rollout or order machines with that image from the factory. I think that they do BIOS config as well, possibly for an additional fee. I've never been on the ordering side of things.

... If you assume it'll be any better than that, then you run the risk of being horribly let down.

You might be right about Valve and Steam... and you might be wrong. But in life, you always run the risk of being let down. That doesn't mean that you should also always keep your cynic hat firmly pulled down over your ears... that's just not even living.

Besides, as others have already said: If Valve and Steam were to be entirely vaporized from space at this very instant, I'm completely confident that we could still rely upon the Pirate Software Market (TM) to ensure that our games work again.

... What I don't understand is how you can do a clean install anyway. Unless my information is now out of date, I thought the Windows serial on a lot of laptop brands aren't recognised by the Windows ISO you can get off technet.

Then you're probably just downloading the wrong ISO; there are multiple versions of certain ISOs, including some which only work with volume licenses (but not retail licenses) and some which only work with retail licenses (but not volume licenses), and so on. There are even some which contain multiple versions of Windows on a single disk... but which can't be used at all to install on some servers, because the server setup software doesn't recognize those multi-OS disks as genuine Microsoft install media. Microsoft is so wonderfully organized, that way. </sarcasm>

Turns out that I just needed to learn to use Google!

The solution is to:

1. Copy the contents of the retail DVD onto your hard drive2. Locate the file ei.cfg which is in the \sources folder on the disk3. Alter the entry value for 'Channel' from Retail to OEM4. Burn the altered ISO image to disk, creating a new install disk which will work with your OEM key.

That, coupled with the driver backups, should get you 80% of the way there. The only thing left to do then is try and find the essential helper programs from the vendors website.

Steam does not have a "public exit strategy." Gabe Newell, in an interview once, said that they "tested" turning off the servers and the games (probably their own games, as it was a long time ago) still worked, but that's about it. From there gamers came to believe that DRM-disabled copies of all purchased games would flow to users' hard drives in the event that Steam went out of business. Why, I don't know.

Having worked for a company that went bankrupt, I find it very difficult to believe that the administrators brought in to wind it down will press the button to enable this to happen. The only way this could possibly work is if the games unlock themselves when a certain condition occurs - and I'm struggling to come up with one that either couldn't be trivially faked (eg. Valve domain no longer points to x.x.x.x) or take so long to trigger that you might as well have no game (eg. No access to Steam for 3 months).

I think it would be safer to assume that if Steam is discontinued or Valve go bankrupt then you'll lose your entire catalogue of purchased games. If you assume it'll be any better than that, then you run the risk of being horribly let down.

Beaten gamers syndrome. But I think what's important is that one can at least take one's games to other services. We've seen something similar when one company either ceases to exist, or drop a particular service. e.g. newsgroups, GWFL, etc. Remember we are dedicated customers with a track record of buying games (lots of games). Any company would love to have us.

I haven't got to the point of trying steam on linux. I'm not opposed to drm if it isn't a PITA.

I can tell you that making binaries work on linux is often a time sink. Google Earth for example. Sometimes it is no hassle and sometimes it just doesn't work. Google at least puts bodies on the problem and makes it work for your disty. Not everything about Google is evil.

Lenovo bundled this app-store on some of their Thinkpads...it was one of the many bundled apps which had to go as soon as I opened the lid.

What? You mean you actually uninstalled the bundled apps, instead of just reformatting and reinstalling Windows? Weird...

Sometimes it's not so easy depending on how many non-standard drivers the OEM uses. My probook had a few "unknown devices" after a reformat. One ended up being a driver for the SDcard slot, while another driver wouldn't install under Windows 8 because it needed an older .net version. If the list of crapware is fairly short, uninstalling is often a faster, less frustrating affair.

Hence the argument to use an OSX or Linux box and run Windows in a VM. If you chose OSX, you won't have driver issues and if you chose Linux, you will have a lot but there's a big support community including some friendlies.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.